The Mount Sinai journal of medicine, New York
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Review
Thrombotic microangiopathy: differential diagnosis, pathophysiology and therapeutic strategies.
Several disease states manifest as thrombotic microangiopathies (TMA), most prominently thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) and hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). The recent discovery of the von Willebrand factor cleaving protease ADAMTS-13 (a disintegrin and metalloprotease with thrombospondin type 1 motif), found to be deficient in TTP, has helped separate these entities. ⋯ Although enormous progress has been made towards understanding these syndromes, the diagnostic tools and therapies used have hardly changed in the last 20 years, with the standard of care remaining plasma exchange in most cases. In this review, we will cover the multiple etiologic factors for TMAs, with the resultant differential diagnoses, as well as provide insight into the latest pathophysiologic findings and possible implications for treatment.
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Cardiovascular complications following noncardiac surgery constitute an enormous burden of perioperative morbidity and mortality. Annually, more than one million operations are complicated by adverse cardiovascular events, such as perioperative myocardial infarction or death from cardiac causes. In order to combat this problem, cardiac evaluation prior to noncardiac surgery should ask two questions about the patient: What is the risk of cardiac complications during and after surgery? How can that risk be reduced or eliminated? Risk assessment evaluates patients' co-morbidities and exercise tolerance, as well as the type of surgery to be performed, to determine the overall risk of perioperative cardiac complications. ⋯ Noninvasive testing offers only limited assistance in estimating risk for these patients. The best risk reduction strategy for these patients is perioperative beta blockade use. The role of coronary revascularization specifically to reduce perioperative cardiac complications remains unproven.
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The obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) is a common disorder, estimated to occur in 4% of males and 2% of females in the workforce. This incidence increases with age. Obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea is responsible for acute and chronic heart disease, but is a readily treatable disorder that is both underdiagnosed and underappreciated in health care. Because the cardiac consequences of untreated sleep apnea are so profound and the treatment relatively simple, the disorder needs to be recognized more frequently.
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This article examines the ethics of egg donation. It begins by looking at objections to noncommercial gamete donation, and then takes up criticism of commercial egg donation. ⋯ Donors should not be paid for their eggs, but rather they should be compensated for the burdens of egg retrieval. Making the distinction between compensation for burdens and payment for a product has the advantages of limiting payment, not distinguishing between donors on the basis of their traits, and ensuring that donors are paid regardless of the number or quality of eggs retrieved.
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The concept of vital organ transplantation is critically analyzed by considering how traditional transplantation modifies the commitment to saving lives. Problems such as those associated with immunosuppression might seem to provide a compelling reason to oppose extension of transplantation to non-lifesaving situations. A closer examination, however, shows that immunosuppression does not present an intractable objection. ⋯ Informed consent provides a limited, but important, component in justifying extended transplantation. Such justification, however, does not rest on patient autonomy, but on the reasonable prospect of benefit. Transplant programs considering an extension of traditional transplantation should develop formal protocols that include assessment of costs, benefits, quality of life, and the adequacy of informed consent.